Epilogue

The moment which followed Mr. Izawa’s departure with Hans is one I’ll never forget. It became one of my precious ones.

    I was the last remaining on the bridge. I barely stopped crying. Part of me wanted to be happy, but part couldn’t simply behave that way. Not after Fujiko gave me her last memories to save the director. Not after they all forgot me.

“What are you doing, are you not coming?” Rubeus’s voice startled me.

    I turned to face him, a hope shaping deep inside me.

“Rubeus… You still remember me?”

“Mmm… Me… Megu…” He scratched his head. “Not really. But, this. This shawl.”

    He pointed at my head, and I reached my hand to brush the piece of fabric he gave me once we reached the bridge.

“It’s mine.” He noted, unfazed. “I would never have given it to someone I didn’t feel close to.”

    Silly Rubeus. I cried again.

⋆༺♱༻⋆

    Snow covers the streets, heaps topping even the lamp posts. Pale mist lingers before my eyes as I breathe out.

    Before us, numerous curious passersby form a crowd for the performance we’ve decided to give outdoors. At the occasion of Christmas.

    Next to us, a curious machine disseminates bubbles which, thanks to the use of magic, inflate and widen. They end up enveloping us one by one, and I glance at the other troop members as the bubbles start floating around.

    Evren, Edward, Longwei and Rubeus… We all wear white costumes, light garlands wrapped all over our bodies. They cast a warm glow over their serene faces.

    While the bubbles rise over the ground, we begin to dance. Our moves are guided by a music broadcasted in the street. Soft, soft and whimsical.

“Magic shouldn’t be forbidden.”

    I do my best to follow the beats of the song, tilting my head to let it brush my shoulder as I extend my arm, turning the palm of my hand to the starry sky.

    The public watch us amazed while we, the clockwork dolls, dance harmoniously.

    As the bubbles keep rising higher, they float around one another. Rubeus’s approaches mine, and in the same move we reach out our hands to the edge of our respective bubbles.

“Magic is dangerous, but it isn’t evil. To live is equally dangerous, yet we choose to live.”

    Moved by a gust of wind, our bubbles pull away once more, flickering.

“It took away a lot from me. Precious memories, precious people. Yet… without it I would’ve never been able to chase away my nightmares, to gain a family instead of it. A chosen one.”

    Step, step by step back I gain momentum… before running near the edge of my bubble, bouncing out of it. The iridescent pellicle doesn’t even burst, jiggling back into position as I cross the void between us. As I land in his bubble, Rubeus catches my hands and we start dancing together in gentle moves.

“It’s possible, for each of us, to find a balance.”

    Below the bubbles, the director stands among the crowd, looking up at us. Discreetly, he reaches for his bird-like mask, taking it off to gaze at us with a gentle smile.

⋆༺♱༻⋆

    One by one, we cautiously place the inanimate dolls on chairs, right in the middle of the stage. I make sure Fujiko won’t fall before taking a few steps back. She’s installed right between Tatsuya and Tatsuma. Her head lightly tilted, it almost seems as if she’s simply asleep.

    We’ll take care of them. We’ll make sure to show them a lot of things, to keep trying to light a spark in their empty gazes.

“…If we keep crafting you new memories, maybe you’ll end up having enough to return to us.”